City, Liverpool draw

City, Liverpool draw
Joe Hart made a stunning injury time save to maintain 10-man Manchester City’s unbeaten Premier League record in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool yesterday.
The England goalkeeper produced an acrobatic diving stop in the third minute of stoppage time to tip behind an Andy Carroll header and keep City five points clear at the top of the table.
Vincent Kompany headed City in front on 31 minutes, before a Joleon Lescott own goal two minutes later evened things up at Anfield.
Mario Balotelli was sent off for two bookable offences within 18 minutes of coming on as a substitute, leaving the visitors to see out the final 10 minutes a man down.
The match was overshadowed by the tragic news of Wales coach Gary Speed’s death.
Kenny Dalglish removed Craig Bellamy from the Liverpool squad because the Welsh striker was so upset about the passing of his manager, friend and mentor.
A minute’s silence preceded the match and the name of Speed, a former Evertonian, rang around Anfield as the teams kicked off.
Roberto Mancini made five changes from the side that lost 2-1 to Napoli on Tuesday, bringing in Micah Richards, Gael Clichy, Gareth Barry, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero.
Liverpool played a solid 4-5-1 formation with Luis Suarez on his own up front, supported from the flanks by Dirk Kuyt and Stewart Downing, and it was the Reds’ strength in midfield that enabled them to dominate possession early on without creating a clear-cut chance.
At the other end, Yaya Toure blazed a left-foot shot on the turn high and wide, while the tricky footwork and intelligence of Aguero and David Silva started to pull Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger out of position.
Kompany gave City the lead just after the half-hour mark, profiting from some woeful marking at a corner — the Belgian rose to glance the ball into the top-left corner almost unchallenged, though it appeared to go in off his shoulder.
But within seconds, Liverpool were level. Charlie Adam’s shot was heading wide but Lescott — perhaps fearing the presence behind him of Kuyt, stuck out a boot and diverted the ball past the helpless Joe Hart.
The home side were still without a shot on target, yet somehow on terms.
Adam finally tested Hart from the edge of the box after great work by Kuyt on the left side.
Hart’s momentum was taking him the wrong way, but he still managed to make a fine save with his feet.
Meanwhile, Neither Swansea nor Aston Villa could trouble the scorers yesterday in a game overshadowed by the tragic death of Wales boss Gary Speed.
Both sides had their chances to break the deadlock and snatch all three points, but a fixture played out at a sombre Liberty Stadium ended goalless.
Few clear-cut opportunities were created during a tight first 45 minutes, with Swansea looking comfortable in possession but unable to threaten.
Villa were also lacking a cutting edge, but felt they should have had a penalty moments before the interval when Ashley Williams appeared to handle a header from Emile Heskey.
The visitors continued to press at the start of the second half, with Gabriel Agbonlahor seeing a swerving shot slip through Michel Vorm but over the crossbar.
Leroy Lita then had two chances to win it for the Swans, but drilled wide and straight at Shay Given when presented with clear sights of the target.
Results
Saturday: Arsenal 1-1 Fulham; Bolton 0-2 Everton;                Chelsea 3-0 Wolverhampton; Man Utd 1-1                                Newcastle; Norwich 2-1 QPR; Stoke 3-1                                Blackburn; Sunderland 1-2 Wigan; West Brom 1-3 Tottenham.
Yesterday: Liverpool 1-1 Man City; Swansea 0-0 Aston Villa. — Eurosport